


The comfort of her arms

by danaxstella



Category: The Fall (TV 2013), The X-Files
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Post-The Fall season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:15:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27671218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danaxstella/pseuds/danaxstella
Summary: Stella comes home from Belfast, Dana picks her up at the airport and brings her home. Dana and Stella have been in a relationship for a few months. They both live in London but not together yet.
Relationships: Stella Gibson & Dana Scully, Stella Gibson/Dana Scully
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	The comfort of her arms

**Author's Note:**

> Hi,  
> This is the first fanfic I've ever written and it's also the first time I write in English, so if it's not really good at least I tried. And of course, all feedbacks will be highly appreciated.  
> Also, a huge thank you to Nica for taking the time to correct me and give me some advices.

Stella had met Dana while working on a case, she was the doctor who saved the life of a child attacked by a man in London. Once the case was over, she had invited her to have a drink and they fuck, of course, because it is what Stella does. But surprisingly Stella found out that she really appreciates spending time with Dana and not just because the sex was good, so they ended up starting a relation. But after two months of dating, Stella was sent to Belfast to do a twenty-eight days review on a murder case. 

Stella had succeeded in saving Paul Spector life once because she wanted him to be punished for what he did to those women but in the end, he had managed to take the easy way out. She hated that it all ended this way but there was nothing she could do anymore. So, she left Belfast without looking back or saying goodbye to anyone because they didn’t care about her anyway.

While she was waiting for her fly, she called Dana to ask her if she could pick her out in the airport in London in two hours and of course Dana said yes. That is how she ended up here in the airport in London waiting for Stella.

Stella is a strong woman, but this case has been really hard on her. Seeing the love that Olivia had for her father made her think a lot about her own father. Even though he died a long time ago, she didn’t really take the time to grieve him and to heal, she had preferred burring her feeling, using self-harm and sex as coping mechanisms to deal with the pain.

During the flight, Stella tries to rest but she isn’t comfortable on this plane, her face and ribs hurting from the attack and everything is so overwhelming at the moment that she thinks she might start crying. She doesn’t see tears as a sign of weakness and she is never ashamed of crying, but right now, on this airplane full of strangers, she decides that it is better to keep her tears inside and wait for being home to deal with all of this. 

After half an hour, which feels like forever, her plane finally lands in London. Stella tries to be as quick as possible, she takes her hand bag, gets out of the plane, hurries to get the rest of her luggage and starts looking for Dana.

When Dana sees Stella in the distance, she waves and smiles at her and Stella waves back to confirm that she saw her, but it is only barely visible. Dana thinks that she must be really exhausted but she hasn’t seen her face yet. It is only when Stella stands in front of her that she sees it and gasps.

‘Oh my god, what did they do to you there?’ she asks.  
‘Dana please stop it’s nothing, I’m exhausted, take me to my house please.’ she answers more coldly than she intended to.  
‘Okay let’s go and let me at least take some of your bags’

Stella hands her the less heavy part of her luggage and follows Dana to her car. They both put the bags in the trunk and Dana starts driving to Stella house. The drive is quiet, Dana doesn’t want to overwhelm Stella and Stella is struggling to keep her eyes open. 

After twenty minutes, they arrive at Stella’s flat. Since Stella had been away for 3 months, her mail is all over the floor, so Stella picks it up and they leave all the bags in the entrance, too tired to unpack anything tonight. Then Dana follows her girlfriend to the kitchen, where once again the long absence of Stella is noticeable by the wilted flowers, forgotten on the table. 

Stella grabs a bottle of red wine and two glasses.

‘Do you want some?’ she asks Dana.  
‘Yes, please’

So, she pours them some wine, hands her glass to Dana and heads over to the living room with her own glass and the bottle. They sit on the couch and start drinking quietly.

Dana watches Stella, waiting for her to talk, to tell her what happened in Belfast but she seems lost in thoughts, miles and miles away.  
‘Stella, are you in pain? Did they give you any drugs to take?’ she asks, but Stella doesn’t seem to hear her, so she gets closer to her and gently touches her arm and Stella jumps at the sudden contact.  
‘Sorry…I was…never mind. Have you talked to me?’ Stella answers, trying to come back to the present and to wash away the emotions and the tears that have begun to form in her eyes.  
‘Yes, I asked you if you were in pain and if you have drugs to take, because if so, you probably shouldn’t mix them with wine.’ Scully says, seeing the battle in her partner eyes but not commenting on it because she knows that Stella will only talk to her when she's ready.  
‘Hum, they gave me some but I did took them because they clouded my mind.’ She lies.  
‘Stella…now that you’re at home you should take them, you seem to be in pain and they’ll help with it’  
‘I’m fine and the wine will have the same effect’ Stella responds.  
Scully sighs, knowing that she won’t be able to convince Stella anyway. ‘Do you want to eat something at least? I can order pizzas.’ She suggests.  
Stella shakes her head: ‘I can’t eat anything hard…I have some kind of fracture, I can't remember the exact name right now.’ She says, trying not to think about how she got this fracture because she doesn’t want to go there emotionally tonight, but her eyes once again burn with tears.  
‘Oh Stella…that’s horrible, I’m so sorry’ Dana said softly, moving closer to Stella and taking her hands in hers. With the contact, Stella feels a tear breaking free from her eye and with just that, it's as if something breaks inside her and she lets out painful sobs.  
‘Shh sweetheart, it’s okay, I’ve got you, let it all out.’ Dana whispers hugging Stella and gently rubbing her back.  
Stella mutters things that sound like excuses against Dana’s neck while her tears leave wet spots on her shirt. Dana keeps holding her tight while caressing her back, trying to let Stella know that she's here for her and that she won’t let her down.  
‘I’m sorry Dana, I didn’t want for it to get to me like that and I didn't want you to see me like that’ Stella says a little while after, still not looking Dana in the eyes, afraid to find anger or disappointment there.  
‘Stella, you’ve absolutely nothing to be sorry for. And it’s okay to feel the way you feel right now, especially after a case as challenging as this one’ she reassures.  
‘Thank you so much for being here and not running away Dana’ she says hugging her tighter once more ‘Could we stay like that a few more minutes, please?’ Stella asks.  
‘Of course honey, anything you want’ Dana responds, gently kissing Stella head.

When Dana gets the feeling that Stella is falling asleep in her arms, she suggests that they go to bed. So, they walk upstairs, change into their pyjamas, taking turns in the bathroom and slipping under the sheets with Scully spooning Stella.

‘Goodnight Stella’ she whispers in her ear.  
‘Goodnight Dana’

—————

It was a late night at the office, Stella is still at her desk catching up on paper works from her time in Belfast. Around two in the morning, when she can't keep her eyes open anymore, she decides to call it a night. But she doesn’t want to go home to her empty flat and Dana is working at the hospital that night, so she decides to sleep on the camp bed in her office.

She starts removing her shirt and gets into her sleeping bag when suddenly, she sees him standing in the doorframe. Her father, standing there and watching her with a smile on his face. She smiles back at him and he started walking into the room.

They sit down next to each other on the camp bed, Stella still smiling, she is happy to see her dad even though she knows that he can’t possibly be here, that this is just her imagination playing with her, but she decides to appreciate the opportunity to see him again.

‘Lie down sweetheart, I’m going to tuck you in and stay with you until you fall asleep’ he says to Stella.

So she does as she was told to, trying to settle down as comfortably as she could in this uncomfortable bed. She closes her eyes while he puts the blanket on her and kisses her cheek. It feels so good to have him with her now, even too good to be true, so she reopens her eyes to check if he is still there.

But when she does so, she sees the man sitting on her bed is no longer her father but Paul Spector. She's starting to panic but he doesn’t give her time to move before pushing her back against the bed. 

‘Stella for Star’ he murmurs.  
‘Don’t call me that’ she yells back at him, but it only makes him laugh.

She wants to move away from him, to grab her gun and shoot him but she can't do anything because he is so strong. In moments like this, she hates being a tiny woman because, even with all the swimming and training that she does, she couldn’t compete with man like Spector. And before she even realizes it, he starts strangling her.

She cries out, but nobody is in the building at this hour of the night so nobody can hear her. She can't breathe, she tries to get his hands off of her neck but without success and tears start to roll down her face.

—————

She wakes up, covered in sweat, panting for breath and shaking, with tears on her cheeks. Dana is awake, sitting in bed by her side and judging by the look on her face, Stella assumes that she must have been moving and crying out during her nightmare. Dana’s heart arches once again for the woman next to her, she doesn’t deserve to suffer like that, she deserves to be loved and happy. She just wants to hold her tight, tell her that she loves her so much and that she will always be there for her if she would let her, but she doesn’t want to cross a line or overwhelm her. So instead, she asks softly: ‘Do you want to write it down? Where is your dream journal?’ Stella shakes her head, not wanting to explain to Dana how her journal has ended up as a piece of evidence in the Spector’s case ‘It’s okay, I don’t want to write this one anyway.’ she says.

Dana slips out of bed and disappears into the bathroom. She comes back a few seconds later with a glass of water and a cold washcloth. She hands the glass to Stella who feels very dehydrated all of the sudden and then she begins to gently caress Stella's face with the washcloth to remove the sweat. When Stella finished drinking, she puts her empty glass on the bedside table and sits on the bed, feeling uncomfortable in her sweaty clothes but not ready to get up and change them yet. Sensing her discomfort, Dana asks ‘Do you want to change your pyjamas? I can bring you clean ones?’, ‘It’s okay Dana, I can go and get them myself, but not now' she answers. ‘Yeah, I know I just want to help you. Tell me what you need right now’, ‘Could you just hold me?’ she asks shyly. It was not in Stella habits to ask for someone to hold her, but she feels so safe in Dana arms. ‘Of course sweetheart, come here.’

And so, Stella places herself comfortably in Dana's arms with her head on her shoulder. Dana holds her close and starts stroking her back. And this soft contact causes Stella to start crying again. They are quiet tears, but Dana can feel the change in her breathing and her body starts shaking a little. ‘It’s okay love, I’m here, I’ve got you’ she says to comfort her while tears begin to form in her own eyes. ‘I’m…so…sorry…Dana’ Stella murmurs now sobbing.  
‘Shhh, you have nothing to be sorry for, I’m sorry, it’s horrible what happened to you, you don’t deserve that, and I hope you know that.’ Stella hugs Dana a little tighter and Dana places a soft kiss on her head.  
‘Thank you so much Dana, for everything you’ve done tonight, you really don’t have to take care of me like that’  
‘I know that I don’t have to but I want to. I’m here because I chose to and there is nowhere else I want to be at the moment. I love you Stella.’

Dana loves her, Stella struggles to believe it. The last person who said these three words to her was her father before he died. She wants to say them back, but she can't, at least not tonight. But of course Dana understands that and she is fine with it, the simple fact that Stella allows her to be here for her is already a privilege and she knows that she will say the words back when she’s ready. 

The two women stay there, in the middle of the bed, wrapped up in each other's arms until their eyes fail to stay open and they fall into a deep and peaceful sleep.

-THE END-


End file.
